Society always celebrates the records that top the Billboard 200 album chart. Back of The Billboards is a Music Times weekly segment that looks at the opposite end: the record that finished at no. 200 for the previous week. We hope to give new life to music that you might have missed, or new life to classic albums you may have forgotten.
Week of 09/12/2013
WHO: The Temptations
WHAT: "The Best of The Temptations-The '60s: 20th Century Masters"
ORIGINALLY RELEASED: August 1999
BILLBOARD PEAK: 73 (re-release)
LAST WEEK: Off the chart
WHY?: The last several weeks have featured several retrospective sets from classic acts, and this week continues the trend. The Temptations were one of the most successful acts under the Motown Label, although many forget that the group got its start with the iconic imprint. The Temptations were one of the first groups to bring success to the label, transferring it from the era of doo-wop R&B groups and into the soulful crooning of acts like Marvin Gaye.
The Temptations have released enough R&B chart-topping singles to fill multiple volumes, but most historians will agree that the group's best work occurred during the '60s, the decade highlighted on this installment of the "20th Century Masters" collection. Among the hits on this 11-track compilation are "My Girl" and "I Can't Get Next To You," two singles that topped the Hot 100.
Perhaps more interesting from am musical curio perspective is the formats in which the tracks have been released. Most of the songs are released in standard "album-version" stereo, but two singles ("Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" and "I Can't Get Next To You") are presented in the original "single-version" mono. Does it make any sense other than for curiosity's sake to own anything in mono? No, probably not. But some people might be into that sort of thing.
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